Fire damages Kalmia nursing home; sheriff dies at hospital

rbenjes@theaegis.com

As taken from the pages of The Aegis dated Thursday, March 28, 1963:

The Harford Convalescing Home in Kalmia suffered a blaze that caused approximately $10,000 in damage 50 years ago this week. Twenty-six patients had to be evacuated to homes on the opposite side of Forge Hill Road until the fire could be brought under control. The fire swept through the rear building and damaged two others before being brought under control an hour later. Eleven fire trucks and eight ambulances arrived on the scene. An estimated 60 firemen fought the blaze. Approximately 28,000 gallons of water were pumped on the flames. The fire was started from a defective extension cord under a sink in a kitchen in the rear of the building. There were no injuries and all the patients were returned to the undamaged part of the home.

Sheriff Raymond A. Fulker, 51, died suddenly at Harford Memorial Hospital. Fulker, earlier in the day, had seen a local physician who, after taking a cardiogram of his heart, sent him directly to Harford Memorial Hospital. Several more tests were performed on the sheriff and it was decided that he would be admitted. Soon after going up to his room in the elevator, Fulker collapsed and died. Fulker first served as the chief of police in Bel Air and then he was elected to the position of Sheriff of Harford County in January 1947. Fulker had many ties to the community as director of the Bel Air Federal Savings and Loan Association, a member of the board of the Commercial and Saving Bank in Bel Air, a long-time director of the Bel Air Volunteer Fire Department and a member of the Elks and the Moose lodges. Chief Deputy Sheriff Paul D. Stearns, 61, was sworn in as sheriff to take Fulker's place.

The House of Delegates voted to close the Bel Air Race Track. The bill had passed the House and headed back to the Senate for approval.

Plans to possibly close the Churchville post office were met with opposition from local citizens. More than 100 people attended a meeting to protest the closing of the post office. At the conclusion of the meeting, a petition was passed around and signed by 83 persons to keep the branch open. Edward Dorsey, Director of Post Office Changes Branch in Washington D.C. advised that a survey of the community would be made by the Post Office Department and the possibility of a Churchville branch would be discussed.

Nearly all the outside pay phones along the Route 40 corridor from the Baltimore City line all the way up to Delaware were ripped open by burglars. In each incident the phones were pried apart and the change or the coin boxes were removed.

Attorney General Robert Kennedy and his brother, Edward Kennedy, stopped by the Safeway in Bel Air for a cup of coffee on their way to the Manor for a day of horseback riding.

The Harford County Diary Princess Committee was looking for girls 17 to 21 years old, who had lived on a diary farm, to compete in the second annual Diary Princess Contest. Contestants would be judged on poise and beauty but also on their knowledge of dairying and their ability to meet the public. The winner would be a public relations spokesman for the diary industry. The area winner would compete for the "Maryland Dairy Princess" title.

For the second time in less than two months, The Aegis had a special "green colored" Easter section in its paper. The colorful section contained ads and news of the new spring styles in clothing, furniture and home furnishings available for the Harford housewives in Bel Air's fine big stores.